Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As the Deputy will know, jobseeker's payments are subject to tax. However, recipients of jobseeker's payments might not pay tax on them due to their income level. Because the Covid-19 pandemic unemployment payment is a form of income, it is being treated in the same way as jobseeker's payments. As such it is subject to taxation. As is the case with jobseeker's payments, the amount of tax recipients pay at the end of this year could be smaller what they paid last year for the very simple and unfortunate reason that their income may have decreased considerably in 2020 when compared with 2019. The answer to the Deputy's question is "Yes".

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